Downtime
by Dragon of Venus
Summary: Even immortal Guardians need to take a break from their work every now and then. (A series of one-shots.)


(May 14 '13, 4:12 pm)

Have I mentioned that I'm a huge ROTG fan? Yeah, it's gotten kind of all-encompassing. And lately I've been getting random ideas for things that the Guardians might do when they're not working or, y'know, saving the world from fabulous supervillains. So that's what this is gonna be. You've been warned.

Another fair warning: I'm not completely satisfied with the ending of this one, but I was stuck on it for a while, and I just wanted to be done with it. So... sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or How I Met Your Mother, from which I pulled this idea. (Wow. That was a really uncreative disclaimer, huh? I've been gone a while, I still need to get back into the swing of this.)

* * *

Where Does That Door Go?

"I gotta say, North, I'm impressed." Jack took another cookie from the large plate at the center of the table and leaned back in his chair in the workshop's break room. He continued, "I had no idea the elves did the baking."

As the newest Guardian dug into what must have been his fifth or sixth cookie (Sandy was going about the same rate, but Bunny consumed them at a more reasonable pace, and Tooth still had yet to touch them- some nonsense about cavities), North chuckled. "Of course! Who did you think it was?"

"I dunno, the yetis?" shrugged Jack. "They definitely seem more, uh..." He looked down next to his chair, where three elves stood taking turns sticking their tongues to his staff. "...Competent?"

North gave a loud laugh, greatly amused by this. "There is still much you do not know, Jack," he grinned.

The winter spirit smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're-" Suddenly, something on the opposite side of the room caught his eye. "...Right..." he mumbled, absentmindedly finishing his thought. He shifted his attention back to the group and went on, "Hey, speaking of... what's up with that door?"

Immediately, the other Guardians peered across the room at where he'd been staring and noticed that there was, indeed, a rather plain-looking door there. Bunny turned back to Jack, eyeing him as if he'd grown another head. "What do you mean 'up'? It's a door."

Jack, still mesmerized by the door, stood up. "It just looks so... out of place..." He walked across the room, the others -equally as curious, save perhaps for Bunny- making no move to stop him. When Jack reached the door, he placed his hand on the knob, turned it after a moment of hesitation, and peeked inside. What he saw made his eyes go wide and his jaw hang open. "Wow..." he breathed, and stepped through, closing the mysterious door behind him.

The break room fell silent. Finally, Tooth worriedly spoke up, "North, where did he go?"

"I do not know," he replied, flustered, "I have never seen it either!"

"What?!" The fairy shot up from her seat, hovering above the table nervously. "How could you not know?! It's _your_ workshop!" North didn't get a chance to respond before she continued, "Jack could be in danger, for all we know!"

"Yeah, I'll believe that," Bunny scoffed, reaching for the plate. Sandy slapped his paw and took the cookie that the rabbit had his sights set on, earning him a glare.

Angered by everyone else's apparent lack of care for their friend's safety, Tooth huffed, "I'm going after him," and zipped through the air to the door.

North turned in his chair. "Tooth, please calm down!" he called to her. "Is very unlikely that Jack is-"

The tooth fairy swung open the door and gasped at what she saw. After staring for a moment, she hurried inside and closed the door.

Again, the room was quiet. The silence was only broken, in a way, by Sandy glancing at Santa and the Easter Bunny with a question mark popping up over his head. "I couldn't tell ya," Bunny answered, just as confused.

North stood up. "Perhaps I should go look for them."

"Are you serious, mate?" said Bunny. The longer this went on, the more concerned he became about the others' sanity.

"Well, technically, is my door." North began the short walk to the other side of the room. "If something happened to them, I could not forgive myself!" Before Bunny could protest, the man opened the door and looked inside. "Ah!" he laughed. "Just as I suspected!" And without another word, he disappeared behind the door.

Silence.

Noticing a look on Bunny's face that could only be described as worry -whether the rabbit would admit it or not- Sandy nodded toward the door, as if to dare his fellow Guardian.

"Not on your life, little man," was his response.

The Sandman smirked and conjured up a dreamsand chicken above his head.

When he saw this, Bunny scowled, "I'm not scared. I just don't think they're in any kind of trouble." He leaned back a bit in his seat, but he still gripped the arms of the chair tensely.

With a roll of his eyes, Sandy decided there was only one course of action left to take: he hopped out of his seat and walked to the door.

Instantly, Bunny's eyes widened and he froze. "What are you doing?" He didn't know if the question went unheard, because Sandy never looked back or broke his stride as he crossed the room. Before another word could be said, the small man opened the door. At first, he only slightly widened his eyes at the sight behind it, but he quickly smiled and walked through.

And with the click of a doorknob, Bunnymund was alone.

"...S-Sandy?" he called after a moment. Of course, there came no reply. Bunny gulped, but he quickly regained his nerve. He inhaled sharply and stood up. "Alright," he told himself, "you got nothin' to be nervous about. You're a Guardian... not to mention a bloody six-foot-tall rabbit, no one's gonna cross ya." With a nod to reassure himself, he slowly walked toward the door.

After taking a bit too long to make the journey, Bunny found himself on the other side of the room, standing in front of the door that had taken his friends. He squared his shoulders and reached for the doorknob, but hesitated. Then he grabbed the knob, turned slowly, and pulled the door open. What he saw made him scream and fall to the floor.

The moment the door opened, Jack, North, Tooth, and Sandy jumped out of the closet and shouted (or mimed shouting), "BOO!"

* * *

Okay, so apparently the yetis are the chefs according to the books, but I didn't know that at the time. Forgive me.


End file.
